Prep Baseball Report

Chicago Preseason ID: Positional Data Dive


By: Gavin Smith
Manager, Content & Operations

On February 16th, the Prep Baseball Illinois staff hosted the Chicago Preseason ID at Pullman Community Center in Chicago, IL. Over 50 players participated in a pro-style workout, gathering unrivaled access to data through our state-of-the-art tech partners, as well as in-depth scouting analysis from our Prep Baseball Illinois staff.

We've already posted a Statistical Analysis from the event, highlighting more of the traditional statistical categories. Also we published a Takeaways story, highlighting some of the event's top performers.

Today, we will take a further in-depth look at the top positional players with the help of our tech partnerships, broken down by the categories down below:


VALD

60-YARD

Rank Name State School Class Pos 60-yd
1 Matt Davis IL Oak Park-River Forest 2027 SS 6.92 s
2 Jared Ramsey IL Gwendolyn Brooks 2026 3B 6.97 s
3 Jenaro Negron IL Thornton Fractional South 2027 OF 7.01 s
4 Tyler Arnold IL Lincoln-Way Central 2027 OF 7.10 s
5 Ryan St. Louis IL Harvest Christian Academy 2027 SS 7.12 s

MAX VERTICAL JUMP

Rank Name State School Class Pos Jump Height (max)
1 Tyler Arnold IL Lincoln-Way Central 2027 OF 29.1
2 Curtiss Crossley IL Brother Rice 2027 OF 28.0
3 Matt Davis IL Oak Park-River Forest 2027 SS 26.3
4 Charlie Klaas IL St Ignatius 2028 C 24.6
5 Tyler Osmanski IL Lincoln-Way East 2027 RHP 24.4
6 Dominic Maloney IL Loyola Academy 2027 RHP 24.2
7 Ryan St. Louis IL Harvest Christian Academy 2027 SS 23.9
8 Samuel James IL Chicago Hope Academy 2028 OF 23.8
9 Alexander Barsky IL Amundsen 2027 LHP 22.8
10 Ethan Gonzalez IL St. Laurence 2029 SS 22.7

Regarding Vertical Jumps and its application to baseball, there have been studies conducted that show a correlation between max jump height for an athlete and their ability to generate power and strength, especially on the mound.


TRACKMAN

We'll continue to roll out the data we gathered from this event, starting with the analytics we have at our disposal from our TrackMan units. Below we'll look at which players had noteworthy batted ball and pitch data.

EXIT VELOCITY (MAX)

Rank Name State School Class Pos Exit Velocity (max)
1 Nolan Hecht IL DePaul College Prep 2028 OF 103.9 mph
2 Jenaro Negron IL Thornton Fractional South 2027 OF 100.6 mph
3 Jared Ramsey IL Gwendolyn Brooks 2026 3B 98.3 mph
4 Dominic Maloney IL Loyola Academy 2027 RHP 98.0 mph
5 Ryan St. Louis IL Harvest Christian Academy 2027 SS 96.6 mph
6 Noah Collins IL Notre Dame College Prep 2027 3B 96.2 mph
7 Hunter Ochstein IL Lincoln Park 2027 OF 95.7 mph
8 Max West IL Bradley-Bourbonnais 2029 C 95.5 mph
9 Tyler Arnold IL Lincoln-Way Central 2027 OF 95.2 mph
10 Andre Gordon IL St. Rita 2028 OF 95.2 mph

EXIT VELOCITY (AVERAGE)

Rank Name State School Class Pos Exit Velocity (avg)
1 Jenaro Negron IL Thornton Fractional South 2027 OF 93.1 mph
2 Curtiss Crossley IL Brother Rice 2027 OF 91.4 mph
3 Nolan Hecht IL DePaul College Prep 2028 OF 90.6 mph
4 Dominic Maloney IL Loyola Academy 2027 RHP 88.5 mph
5 Jacob Cordero IL Ogden International 2027 RHP 87.3 mph

Exit Velocity: This metric measures the speed of the ball, measured in miles per hour, as it comes off the bat at the moment of contact.

Batted Ball (MAX)

Rank Name State School Class Pos Distance (max)
1 Jenaro Negron IL Thornton Fractional South 2027 OF 372 ft
2 Jacob Cordero IL Ogden International 2027 RHP 370 ft
3 Max West IL Bradley-Bourbonnais 2029 C 368 ft
4 Ryan St. Louis IL Harvest Christian Academy 2027 SS 348 ft
5 Noah Collins IL Notre Dame College Prep 2027 3B 347 ft

Sweet Spot %

Rank Name State School Class Pos Sweet Spot %
1 David Flores IL chicago heights marian catholic 2029 1B 100 %
2 Caleb Flanagan IL Fenwick 2027 2B 90 %
3 Jacob Cordero IL Ogden International 2027 RHP 83 %
4 Tyler Arnold IL Lincoln-Way Central 2027 OF 80 %
^ Loy Ballerini IL Joliet Catholic 2028 C 80 %
5 Colin Sherman IL Lane Tech 2028 SS 70 %
^ Noah Collins IL Notre Dame College Prep 2027 3B 70 %
^ Ryan St. Louis IL Harvest Christian Academy 2027 SS 70 %

Sweet Spot percentage: This metric is determined by how often the player produces a batted ball during the session with a launch angle between 8 to 32 degrees.


BLAST

With the help of our Blast Motion sensors, we're analyzing the swing metrics measured at this open showcase.

HAND SPEED (AVERAGE)

Rank Name State School Class Pos Hand Speed (avg)
1 Jenaro Negron IL Thornton Fractional South 2027 OF 23.0 mph
2 Hunter Ochstein IL Lincoln Park 2027 OF 22.8 mph
3 Delval DeSavieu III IL Homewood-Flossmoor 2029 3B 21.9 mph
4 Dominic Maloney IL Loyola Academy 2027 RHP 21.7 mph
5 Loy Ballerini IL Joliet Catholic 2028 C 21.5 mph
6 Noah Collins IL Notre Dame College Prep 2027 3B 21.1 mph
7 Max West IL Bradley-Bourbonnais 2029 C 20.9 mph
8 Nolan Hecht IL DePaul College Prep 2028 OF 20.5 mph
9 Ryan St. Louis IL Harvest Christian Academy 2027 SS 20.5 mph
10 Jared Ramsey IL Gwendolyn Brooks 2026 3B 20.1 mph

Hand Speed: The observed speed as measured on the handle of the bat (measured six inches from the knob of the bat). Peak Hand Speed will occur prior to the moment of impact, very close to the commit time in the swing when the wrists unhinge.

BAT SPEED (AVERAGE)

Rank Name State School Class Pos Bat Speed (avg)
1 Hunter Ochstein IL Lincoln Park 2027 OF 75.7 mph
2 Nolan Hecht IL DePaul College Prep 2028 OF 74.5 mph
3 Max West IL Bradley-Bourbonnais 2029 C 73.6 mph
4 Jenaro Negron IL Thornton Fractional South 2027 OF 73.6 mph
5 Dominic Maloney IL Loyola Academy 2027 RHP 73.4 mph
6 Ryan St. Louis IL Harvest Christian Academy 2027 SS 71.8 mph
7 Noah Collins IL Notre Dame College Prep 2027 3B 71.0 mph
8 Curtiss Crossley IL Brother Rice 2027 OF 70.8 mph
9 Jared Ramsey IL Gwendolyn Brooks 2026 3B 69.9 mph
10 Tyler Arnold IL Lincoln-Way Central 2027 OF 68.8 mph

Bat Speed: The observed speed of the sweet spot of the bat at impact. The sweet spot of the bat is measured six inches from the tip of the bat.

ROTATIONAL ACCELERATION (AVERAGE)

Rank Name State School Class Pos Rot. Acc (avg)
1 Delval DeSavieu III IL Homewood-Flossmoor 2029 3B 20.5 g
2 Hunter Ochstein IL Lincoln Park 2027 OF 20.2 g
3 Max West IL Bradley-Bourbonnais 2029 C 19.9 g
4 Brandon Cisneros IL St. Laurence 2028 RHP 17.8 g
5 Caleb Flanagan IL Fenwick 2027 2B 17.0 g
6 Ryan St. Louis IL Harvest Christian Academy 2027 SS 16.9 g
7 Loy Ballerini IL Joliet Catholic 2028 C 14.3 g
8 Samuel James IL Chicago Hope Academy 2028 OF 14.0 g
9 Khaiden Thomas IL Kenwood Academy 2029 OF 13.2 g
10 Colin Sherman IL Lane Tech 2028 SS 13.2 g

Body Rotation: A swing that has the appropriate relative contributions of body and bat rotations is an efficient and Powerful swing that maintains proper sequencing. An efficient baseball swing is one in which the body creates the initial movements, which is then transferred to the arms and out to the bat, thereby maximizing Bat Speed through this proximal-to-distal kinematic sequencing movement pattern.

ON-PLANE EFFICIENCY %

Rank Name State School Class Pos On Plane Eff (avg)
1 Austin Archuleta IL Lincoln Park 2029 3B 93 %
2 Beckett Hulten IL De La Salle 2027 OF 88 %
3 Brandon Cisneros IL St. Laurence 2028 RHP 81 %
4 Colin Sherman IL Lane Tech 2028 SS 81 %
5 Max West IL Bradley-Bourbonnais 2029 C 78 %
6 Caleb Flanagan IL Fenwick 2027 2B 78 %
7 Delval DeSavieu III IL Homewood-Flossmoor 2029 3B 77 %
8 Raul Sebastian Zarco IL Oak Park-River Forest 2029 2B 76 %
9 Ryan St. Louis IL Harvest Christian Academy 2027 SS 75 %
10 Henry Powell IL St Ignatius 2028 RHP 73 %

On-Plane Efficiency %: measures the percentage of your swing where the bat is on the swing plane. Your Vertical Bat Angle (VBA) at contact establishes the plane for that specific swing. A high % is a great indicator of making consistent contact and barreling balls. Blast recommends an average of 70% or higher, with a range in the 65% to 85%.


VISUAL EDGE

A look at the top Vizual Edge scores from the event.

EDGE SCORE

Rank Name State School Class Pos Edge Score
1 Samuel James IL Chicago Hope Academy 2028 OF 86.69
2 Raul Sebastian Zarco IL Oak Park-River Forest 2029 2B 84.05
3 Andre Gordon IL St. Rita 2028 OF 79.96
4 Matt Davis IL Oak Park-River Forest 2027 SS 79.20
5 Azariah Williams IL Brother Rice 2029 OF 78.55
6 David Flores IL chicago heights marian catholic 2029 1B 77.64
7 Jared Ramsey IL Gwendolyn Brooks 2026 3B 77.47
8 Beckett Hulten IL De La Salle 2027 OF 75.45
9 Henry Powell IL St Ignatius 2028 RHP 75.13
10 Jordan Terrell IL Lindblom 2028 OF 74.26

The Edge Score is a comprehensive score out of 100 that takes the core-six visual skills into account, providing athletes, parents, coaches and scouts with a benchmark number for asessing an athlete’s overall visual ability. In general the higher the Edge Score, the higher chance of athletic success. Think of the Edge Score as the 'Sixth Metric' in the standard Five-Tools that make up a ball player.

The average Edge Score for the 2020 MLB Draft Class was 79.3 (of hitters who completed a Vizual Edge test). MLB players we've worked with typically show stronger scores, with elite hitters scoring consistently above 87.0 on their Edge Score.

+ CLICK HERE for a look at the complete statistics from the event.


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